I have been called “sleepy eyes” since I was a child (I am 43 now). I have spent lots of time every day piling on the layers of concealer and color corrector since I was a teen in an attempt to cover my dark under-eye circles, which remain visible anyway. I have used countless eye creams without major benefit. I never, and I mean never, leave the house without makeup; in fact I wear makeup 7 days a week—and this is mostly because of my dark circles.
Finally in June 2017 I consulted an oculoplastic surgeon, who recommended that I would benefit from both fillers and a lower blepharoplasty for my tear trough deformity. He also noted my ptosis, though I had really just consulted him for the dark circles. He gave me an eye drop which temporarily opened my droopy eyes and I was surprised not only how much better I looked, but even how much more alert, energetic, and relaxed I felt. At the time, though, I wasn’t ready for surgery and opted instead to have Juvederm injected into my tear trough as well as cheekbones to treat the dark circles. It certainly helped, though by no means eliminated my circles.
Fast-forward to April 2018. By this time, I was really noticing my ptosis (droopy eyelids). In order to keep my eyes open, I subconsciously “force” them open by straining—you can see that my forehead Is permanently wrinkled and my eyebrows lifted, especially on the right where I guess the ptosis is worse. It’s second nature, and I do it pretty much 100% of the time while I’m awake. It was starting to cause headaches from all of the muscle tension. I went back to see my oculoplastic surgeon and he had me tested for medical necessity on the ptosis. It was bad enough that my insurance actually is covering the ptosis surgery.
I scheduled surgery for bilateral ptosis repair and bilateral blepharoplasty with Dr. Brian Beisman for this Friday 9/28/18. I am nervous, and dreading the recovery but can’t imagine what it will be like not to look tired and strain my face all of the time!
Updated on 24 Sep 2018:
Updated on 29 Sep 2018:
Woke up at 4:55 am to get to the surgery center by 6 am. I am nervous. The prop nurse gave me meclizine for dizziness, zofran for nausea, decadron (a steroid), and versed to sedate me. My surgeon came to see me and mark my face for surgery. He joked with my mom that he had seen the surgery on You Tube and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express so “I should be good!” My anesthesia was “twilight” and I was given propofol. The nurse and anesthetist came to wheel me to the operating room but that is the last thing I remember...
I woke up in recovery with a lot of eye pain. They gave me some fentanyl, which they’d already given me introperatively. I became very nauseated and they gave me an essential oil diffuse at first but eventually more zofran. The nausea lasted really for the rest of the day. The surgery took around 2 hours for both the bilateral ptosis repairs and bilateral lower blepharplasties.
My parents took me home and stayed with me until my husband got home from work. I went to bed on a wedge pillow and neck pillow. My mom helped me change out my ice and dressings. My postop regimen consists of ice water-soaked gauze placed over my eyes, followed by ice packs and lots of rest. I change the ice packs for cold ones as often as I can. I have eye drops 3x a day and am using Tylenol and tramadol for pain 3x a day. I am still using arnica for bruise and Bromelain for swelling which I was using prior to surgery. I am supposed to put Vaseline on the stitches to moisten them.
I didn’t take a look at my eyes until nighttime, because honestly I just felt too bad! Wow, I am bruised! I have a lot of swelling and stitches so I can’t get any idea yet of my final results. I put on some special bruise cream I bought on Amazon and then it is time to try sleeping elevated on my back when I am a hard-core flat stomach sleeper...
Updated on 29 Sep 2018:
I took a picture the first night after surgery but can’t upload it. This picture I took tonight. My bruising is notably better. My bruise cream may jut be miraculous! It is called heladerm pro bruise cream and I found it on Amazon. I cannot completely close my eyelids, so I am using artificial tears. I am excited to see that my eyes already look more open with no straining from me and my eyebrows aren’t raising up like they were. By the way, writing this review is a little tough because my eyes are so blurry, presumably from.all of the drainage, etc. Today I felt a little better but still rested and napped most of the day with my dressings and ice packs.
Updated on 30 Sep 2018:
I am aching from lying around. My eyes feel so sore and irritated and dry. I am still light-sensitive and having blurry vision. Thankful for my husband’s help. My 10 year old cane home from a camping trip and saw me for the first time today and got a sad look and said “It looks like you got beat up!”
Updated on 2 Oct 2018:
My bruising is mostly in the yellow stage except for some bright red below my sutures in the lower lid. My eyes continue to be sore, irritated and red. I use artificial tears constantly and last night put a bedtime eye ointment in my eyes. This felt somewhat soothing, but I still woke up with red eyes. When I woke up, the whites of my eyes are quite red. Usually this improves as the day progresses until it is mostly red in the outer corners. When I thought about postop recovery, I mostly imagined bruising and swelling but didn’t realize my eyes themselves would hurt so much. I still don’t feel up to leaving the house or driving.
Updated on 3 Oct 2018:
I really tried to pamper my eyes today since they’ve been so irritated. I used a decent amount of nighttime ointment in my eyes last night which helped this morning. I got some preservative-free moisture drops and used them hourly and continued to ice for several sessions, rest my eyes, avoid too much light, etc. It all helped some, but by this evening, they are tired, dry, irritated, sore, and still a little red. Recovery continues...
Updated on 14 Jun 2019:
9 month out, and I am definitely glad I had the ptosis repair and lower blepharoplasty. I feel that I look more alert and refreshed, don’t strain to keep my eyes open, and feel more youthful. I still wear undereye concealer, but would go without makeup if I had to now. I’ve had some Botox injected to help with my compensatory eyebrow raising which does help, though my right eyebrow still tends to elevate a bit when I smile. I am satisfied with the results, and after the first 2 weeks, pretty well-recovered.
